Rule-Based Drawing, Analysis and Generation of Graphs for Mason's Mark Design

TL;DR

This paper presents a rule-based tool for analyzing and generating graphs, specifically applied to mason's marks, enabling classification and creation of symbolic stone inscriptions through a declarative approach.

Contribution

It introduces a novel rule-based system using Constraint Handling Rules for graph analysis and generation, tailored for mason's marks but adaptable to other graph-based problems.

Findings

Successfully classifies mason's marks

Generates new mason's mark patterns

Provides a visual and analytical framework for graph-based symbols

Abstract

We are developing a rule-based implementation of a tool to analyse and generate graphs. It is currently used in the domain of mason's marks. For thousands of years, stonemasons have been inscribing these symbolic signs on dressed stone. Geometrically, mason's marks are line drawings. They consist of a pattern of straight lines, sometimes circles and arcs. We represent mason's marks by connected planar graphs. Our prototype tool for analysis and generation of graphs is written in the rule-based declarative language Constraint Handling Rules. It features - a vertex-centric logical graph representation as constraints, - derivation of properties and statistics from graphs, - recognition of (sub)graphs and patterns in a graph, - automatic generation of graphs from given constrained subgraphs, - drawing graphs by visualization using svg graphics. In particular, we started to use the tool to classify and to invent mason's marks. In principe, our tool can be applied to any problem domain that admits a modeling as graphs.